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Education and training

We work with education providers, professional bodies and healthcare organisations to deliver programs and develop resources to provide education and training in sustainable healthcare.

Sustainable Healthcare Education Network

CSH hosts and manages the Sustainable Healthcare Education (SHE) Network - an international group of clinicians, academics and students interested in preparing health professionals to work in an environmentally sustainable health service: one that is compatible with, and contributes positively to, planetary health. The network enables discussion and sharing of resources for teaching and curriculum development on sustainable healthcare. The SHE Network is open to people from all disciplines, although early work has focussed mainly on medical students and doctors in training.

The SHE Network began in 2009 by sharing examples of existing practice on teaching about the links between climate change and health among UK medical schools. In 2010 we developed undergraduate teaching materials, conducted workshops and provided advice to a dozen interested medical schools, and in 2011-12 case studies were collated.

In 2011, the GMC requested recommendations from the SHE Network for priority learning outcomes on sustainability in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. Draft recommendations were developed and were refined through a national consultation in 2012-13. The final consensus priority learning outcomes were published in The Lancet and informed the development of the GMC's Outcomes for Graduates 2018, which require that “newly qualified doctors must be able to apply the principles, methods and knowledge of population health and the improvement of health and sustainable healthcare to medical practice.” Our priority learning outcomes are provided as a reference from GMC Outcomes for graduates: Further reading.

In 2015-16, the SHE Network coordinated a programme, "Education for Sustainable Healthcare - from Theory into Practice". The programme was linked to a small research project (funded by SEDA) and supported eight "beacon" medical schools in developing and implementing new teaching on sustainability within their undergraduate course. Learning from this programme was published in Public Health in 2017, and further case studies were also developed.

In 2018, the Network is being relaunched with the appointment of a national Steering Committee, chaired by Professor Anthony Costello from UCL, and development of a five year work programme to achieve the following objectives:

To expand and support a network of educators and students from health profession schools across the UK, working to embed planetary health and sustainability within health professional education.

To facilitate the sharing of educational materials for sustainable healthcare education.

To influence national curriculum requirements and guidance for health professional education in the UK.

To promote the inclusion of planetary health and sustainable healthcare within the curricula of medical and health profession schools in the UK.

To form partnerships with health education organisations and institutions to increase SHE’s impact.

On 11th September 2018, the SHE Network ran a 1-day masterclass to develop skills for sustainable healthcare education.

Scholarship programmes

CSH develops and runs a range of clinical scholarship programmes. These offer clinicians the opportunity to develop skills in sustainable healthcare within the context of the NHS through bespoke training and project work together with CSH and relevant external organisations. If you would like to know more, please contact Frances Mortimer.

Sustainability in quality improvement

Sustainability has been recognised as a domain of quality in healthcare, and building it into quality improvement (QI) is a practical way to drive incremental change towards a more ethical, sustainable health system.

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare has developed a framework for the inclusion of sustainability in QI, outlined in two articles:

E-learning

CSH has contributed to the development of e-learning resources, including two BMJ Learning modules on climate change and health and, through the RCPsych Sustainability Fellow, Dr Daniel Maughan, an online module for the Royal College of Psychiatrists on the social role of doctors.

We have developed an e-learning session on sustainable dentistry for Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex, which is available to NHS dental professionals and students free of charge on the e-Learning for Healthcare national platform here.

In-house training: CSH Sustainability School

The CSH Sustainability School offers interactive, applied training courses focused on aspects of sustainability, health and healthcare. Drawing on real-life examples, our courses support health professionals to explore in depth how they can work with partners to incorporate environmental sustainability into public health programmes, healthcare facilities management, clinical care pathways and quality improvement. Intensive, small-group exercises are used to develop confidence and provide the opportunity to hone advocacy, partnership working and strategy development skills.

Feedback from previous sessions:

‘Thank you for this amazing course. Plenty of things to think about in our everyday practice.’

'Really was good. It takes a lot to inspire those who've been working in the NHS for decades but you managed it!' Dr Alison Graham, Spinal Injuries Consultant, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

'It was definitely worth coming – the information presented was well worth hearing - and the networking was worthwhile, particularly hearing about the sustainability challenges in other specialties and professions.' Rex Haigh, Medical Psychotherapy Consultant, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

If you would like to know more about our workshops, please contact Frances Mortimer.